A multidisciplinary team, led by Spain's Sener Aerospace and Defense, has been selected to run the European Defence Fund's (EDF's) COMMANDS project.
COMMANDS (Convoy Operations with Manned-unManneD Systems) is part of the EDF's 2021 funding round, and aims to explore solutions to challenges in the use of unmanned ground systems (UGS) in swarming combination with crewed military vehicles and airborne systems. The formal go-ahead was given in December 2022.
COMMANDS involves 21 consortium partners from ten countries and aims to explore a system of systems able to provide intelligent and effective cooperation between the different assets, identifying technological gaps and to widen the scope of independent European military operations supported by uncrewed or remotely piloted vehicles.
The results will inform both upgrades to current ground vehicles in EU states' inventories for specific missions, and technology integrated in future platforms under development.
The European Commission has awarded €24.8 million of funding to COMMANDS, which has a total cost of €26.8 million over a three-year execution period.